Collar block with creasing device



Sept. 27, 1960 w. J. LEE

COLLAR BLOCK WITH CREASING DEVICE:

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 6, 1958 INVENTOR.

uu/Wawy 5mm Sept. 27, 1960 Filed oct. e, 1958 COLLAR BLOCK WITH CREASINGDEVICE W. J. LEE

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Unite States Patent AO 2,954,149 COLLAR BLoCK wrrHCREASING DEVICEv Wing J. Lee, 1'322 Neck Road, Brooklyn 29, Filed oct.ris, 195s, ser. No. 165,413

4 claims. (ci: zzz-52.1)

The present invention generally relates to a collar shaping device andmore particularly to a collar block which not only shapes the collar butalso engages and creases an adjacent portion of a shirt.

In certain types of laundry procedures, the shirt collar` is shaped ingenerally a fiat condition with the outer portion of the shirt beingfolded inwardly generally at the remote edges of the folded collar.Shaping the collar and folding the shirt by hand is time consuming andtedious and, therefore, it is the primary object of the presentinvention to provide a device for shaping or blocking the collar and atthe same time creasing the shirt and folding the same in the desiredmanner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a shirt collarblocking device having a creaser operated in response to the shaping orblocking of the collar.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a shirt collarblocker and creaser which is simple in construction, easy to use,operated by iiuid pressure,

well adapted for the purposes for which'the same is intended andgenerally inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure -l is a plan view of the construction of the pres-v ent inventionwith portions thereof broken away illustrating the details ofconstruction thereof;

Figure 2 is a plan view taken from the underside of the device of thepresent invention;

' Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially upon aplane passing along section line 3--3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a partial plan view illustrating the device of the presentinvention in use;

Figure 5 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a planepassing along section line 5-5 of` Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a plan view with portions broken away of a modified form ofthe present invention;

Figure 7 is a bottom plan view of the construction of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a longitudinal, sectional view taken substantially upon aplane passing along section line 8 8 of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a detailed sectional view taken sub# stantially upon a planepassing along section line 9--9 of Figure 6; and

Figure l` is a partial plan view of the device of Figure 6 prior tooutward movement of the shirt engaging members.

Referring now specifically to Figures lof the drawings, the numeral 10generally designates thecollar block of the present invention which ismounted on a table surface 12 in underlying relation thereto with thedevice including a generally U-shaped plate member 14 having Patentedsept. 27, 1960 Ffice outwardly extending flanges 16 attached to thetable top surface 12 as by fastening bolts 18. Mounted on the plate 14isa pair of elongated support brackets 20 having a transverse `member 22interconnecting the free ends thereof with one end of a cylinder 24connected thereto with the cylinder 24 receiving a piston with a pistonrod 26 extending therefrom. y'Ihe piston rod 26 is connected to atransverse plate member 28 with the plate member and the transversemember 22 beinginterconnected by a pair of strong tension coil springs30` which are disposed between tlie cylinder 24 and the supportingbrackets 20.

A and is slidably connected thereto by virtue of a guide member y40sliding in a slot 42 and the plate 14 and provided with an overlyingplate 44 slidably engaging the top surface of'theplate 14 on either sideof the slot 42 with the top plate 44 being secured to the guide plate 40and the plate 34 by fastening members 46. Slidably disposed in atransverse slot 48' is a pair of up# standing vmembers 50` carrying ashirt collar engaging member 52.011 the upper end thereof which isdisposed in spaced parallel relation to the table top surface 12 andwhich engages into the interior of the collar 54 of a conventional shirt56. Each laterally extending member 52 is provided with an inclined edge58 for engagement into the inside of the collar 54. The lower end ofeach o-f the upstanding members 50- is laterally offset as designated bythe numeral 60 and is connected to a lower block 62 having a roller 64journaled thereon in the form of a follower for the cam surfaces ordiverging edges 36 on the cam 38 whereby the cam 38 will move betweenthe opposed rollers 64 for forcing the upstanding members 50 outwardlywhen the piston 4rod 26 is retracted within the cylinder 24. A tensioncoil spring 66 is provided between depending projections 68 on the lowerplate 62V which are slidable in slots 78 in the plate 14 for urging theupstanding members 50 towards each other in opposition to the camsurfaces 36.

Disposed in parallel and adjacent relation to each of the upstandingmembers 50 is an upstanding pivotal post 72 having a laterally extendingarm 74 intermediate the ends thereof for positioning in the path o-fmovement of the upstanding member 50 whereby outward and inwardreciprocable movement of the upstanding member 50 will cause oscillationof the pivotal post 52 about the longitudinal axis thereof. Forretaining the arm 74 against and in the path of the upstanding member50, there is provided a tension coil spring 76 which extends between ananchor loop 78 on the plate 14 and an odset loop or eye member o-n thepost 72. The post 72 extends above the table top surface 12 and isprovided with a laterally extending creasing arm 88 which is disposedabove the laterally offset shirt collar engaging member 52 and whichwill fold the shoulder and arm portion of the shirt 56 inwardlyalongside of the lower edge of the collar 54 as clearly shown in Figure4 thus also creasing the shirt in this area due to the grippingengagement of the creasing arm 8i? and the laterally extending member52.

Referring now specifically to Figures 6-10 of the drawings, the numeral90 generally designates a modified form of the invention including amounting plate 92 supported in depending relation to a table top surface94. A pair of brackets 96 extend from the mounting plate 92 and receivea pneumatic cylinder 98 having a movable piston rod 100 associatedtherewith. A transverse plate 102 interconnects the bracket 96 and asimilar transverse plate 104 extends transversely of the pistou rod 100.A pair of tension coil springs 106 extend bei tween the transversemembers 102 and 104l for urging the same towards each other.

, The transverse. plate 104 and the piston 1700 is connected to alongitudinally elongated slide member 108 mounted beneath the plate 92and supported by a strap member 110. Pivotally connected to the remoteend4 of the slide member 103 is a pair of links 112 and 114 which havetheir outer ends terminallyV and pivotally attached to elongated levers116 and 118. One end of each of the levers 116 and 11S is pivotallyanchored to the plate 92 by pivot anchor bolts 120 with the other end ofeach of the levers 116 and 118 being bifurcated as indicated by thenumeral 120 for straddling and pivotally receiving a depending element122 of a transversely slidable element 124 which is anchored to anupstanding member 126 having a laterally extending shirt collar grippingarm 128 extending through and disposed in parallel relation to the tabletop 94. Thus, as the piston rod 100 is reciprocated, the link 114 andlevers 118 will cause lateral reciprocation of the upstanding members126 and shirt collar engaging arms 128` whereby the shirt collar will beengaged and folded down at in the usual manner.

Mounted on each of the laterally movable members 126 is a cam 130 whichis orientated to engage a laterally extending arm 132 rigid with apivotal post 134 having a creasing arm 136 on the upper end thereofwhich is adapted to overlie the laterally extending arm 128 when the arm128 is moved outwardly into shirt collar engaging relation whereby thearcuately curved arm or creasing element 136 will engage and overlie theportion of the shirt immediately outwardly of and under the shirt collar138 as indicated in Figure 6. LTension coil springs 140 interconnect theplate 92' and an oifset arm 142 on the post 134 for urging the creasingmembers 136 to an inoperative or outwardly extending position whereinthe arms 128 are then in adjacent position for positioning a shirtthereon in face down relation so that the arms 12S will be `disposedwithin the shirt collar so that .upon outward movement thereof, theshirt collar will be folded downwardly and creased in the -desiredmanner. As the shirt collar engaging arms 12S move outwardly, they willengage the shirt collar and at the same time, the cam elements 130 willengage the inclined ends of the cam arms 132 thus pivoting the post 134`about a vertical axis and swinging the creasing arms 136 into positionoverlying the laterally extending arms 128 with this position beinggenerally illustrated in Figure 6.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly,.all suitable modiiications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

l. A shirt forming device and creaser comprising a generally horizontalmounting plate, a pair of movable members mounted on said plate formovement in a horizontal plane above the plate, lateral projections onsaid members disposed in overlying relation to the plate for insertioninto a shirt collar, means carried by the plate and connected with themembers for urging the members outwardly 4for engagement with the shirtcollar, and means carried by the plate and engaged by said members formovement responsive to outward movement of said members for `folding andcreasing the shirt adjacent the collar, said means urging the movablemembers outwardly for engagement with the shirt collar including a uidpressure operated piston and cylinder arrangement having one end'thereof mounted on said plate, and rneans interconnecting the other endof the piston and cylinder arrangement With the movable members formovingthe members outwardly when the piston and cylinder are movedlongitudinally relative to each other.

2. The structureas defined in claim l wherein said means interconnectingthe other end of the piston and cylinder arrangement and the movablemembers includes a cam plate having diverging side cam edges with thecam plate being connected with the piston of the piston and cylinderarrangement, each of said movable members having a roller thereonengaging the cam edges of the cam plate, and spring means urging themovable members towards each other and retaining the rollers inengagement with the cam edges of the cam plate whereby reciprocation ofthe piston will cause horizontal reciprocation of the movable members.

3. The structure as deiined in claim l wherein said meansinterconnecting the other end of the piston and cylinder arrangement andthe movable members includes a pair of elongated levers pivotallyattached to the plate in spaced relation to the movable members, one endof each lever being pivotally and slidably connected to a respectivemovable member, and a pair of links having one end of each linkconnected with the piston of the piston and cylinder arrangement withthe other end of each link being connected centrally to its respectivelever whereby longitudinal movement of the piston will cause' angularmovement of the links and cause angular movement of the levers abouttheir pivotal connection with the plate thereby providing horizontalreciprocation for the movable members.

4. A shirt forming device and creaser comprising a generally horizontalmounting plate, a pair of movable members mounted on said plate formovement in a horizontal plane above the plate, lateral projections onsaid members disposed in overlying relation to the plate for insertioninto a shirt collar, means carried by theV plate and connected with themembers for urging the members outwardly for engagement with the shirtcollar, and means carried by the plate and engaged by said members formovement responsive to outward movement of said members for Ifolding andcreasing the shirt adjacent the collar, said means for creasing theshirt adjacent the collar including a pair of laterally extending armsfor engaging the shirt, and a laterally extending actuating member oneach arm lfor engagement by its corresponding movable member, and meanspivotally mounting the creasing arms on the plate for swinging movementthereof when the movable members engage the actuating members.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,829,809 Freeman Apr. 8, 1958

